Bowling ball handle



Oct. 25,` 1960 W. C. BOLT BOWLING BALL HANDLE Filed March 5, 1958 United States Patent O BOWLING BALL HANDLE William C. Bolt, 3429 Bellevue Ave., Los Angeles, Calif.

Filed Mar. 5, 1958, Ser. No. 719,314 =4 lclaims. (el. 27s-64)` This invention relates to a handle which is readily attaehable to and detachable from a bowling ball and which can be electively utilized in propelling a bowling ball down an alley.

More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a handle for supporting and propelling a bowling ball and which will eliminate the thumb and finger sockets normally required in bowling balls, the use of which frequently results in injury to the fingers and ngernails.

.A further object of the invention is to provide a handle for a bowling ball with means for receiving and securing a part of the handle in -the bowling ball, whereby the ball may be better balanced `and will roll more smoothly and more truly than a conventional bowling ball having the thumb and finger sockets.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a bowling ball handle which will afford better control in throwing or propelling the ball.

Various other objects and advantages of the inven tion will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawing, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the handle and of a portion of a bowling ball towhich the handle is connected;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the handle and taken through a part of the bowling ball, substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is 'a transverse sectional view taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 3-3 of Figure 1, and

Figure 4 is an enlarged cross sectional view, taken substantiallyalong a plane as indicated by the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, a portion of a tenpin-type bowling ball 6 is illustrated in the drawing and instead of being provided with conventional thumb and finger receiving sockets, the ball 6 has a single threaded socket7 which is radially disposed and which opens outwardly of a portion of the periphery of the ball 6. The remainder of the periphery 8 of the ball 6 is completely smooth and symmetrical. An externally threaded sleeve 9 ts threadedly in the socket 7 and has an innerend which abuts against an annular shoulder 10 ofthe socket 7, so that the outer end of the sleeve 9 will be disposed substantially liush with the portion of the outer surface 8 of the ball which surrounds the socket 7. The sleeve 9 is secured non-turnably in the socket 7 by screw fastenings 11 which extend outwardly from diagonal bores 12 of the sleeve 9 and which have enlarged inner ends 13 in which the heads of the fastenings 11 seat. The sleeve 9 has a central bore 14 extending therethrough and the wall of said sleeve is provided with aligned openings 15 which open into the bore 14 and which are preferably located nearer the inner end than the outer end of the sleeve 9.

The handle proper, in its entirety, is designated generally 16 and includes an elongated grip portion, desigice nated generally 17, composed of an inner section 18, outer section 19 and a plunger head 24, each of which extends from end-to-end of the grip portion 17. The outer section 19 constitutes a detachable retainer which is detachably secured to the inner section 18 by screw fastenings 20 which engage end portions of said grip sections. The retainer section 19 has an elongated recessed portion 21, extending nearly from end-to-end thereof and which .has a somewhat restricted opening 22 at the outer side of the section 19 and formed by an inturned flange 23 of the retainer section 19. The inner side of the recess 21 is closed by the outer side of the inner handle section 18. The elongated plunger head 24 is detachably mounted on the grip portion 17 by the retainer section 19 and has an outer portion extending slidably through the opening 22. The inner part of the plunger head 24 has la protruding surrounding flange 25 which has a relatively close fitting working engagement in the chamber 21 and which is adapted to engage the inner side of the ange 23 for confining the plunger head 24 in the retainer section 19, when said section is attached to the inner handle section 18, as illustrated in the drawing.

The inner handle section 18 hasV a neck 26 projecting from its inner side and which is disposed intermediate of its ends. The neck 26 is preferably formed integral with the handle section 18, and said neck has a restricted extension forming a stem 27 which is sized to t slidably and turnably in the bore 14. The neck 26 is provided with an annular shoulder 28 at its junction with the stem 27 and which abuts against the outer end of the Y sleeve 9 when the stem 27 is fully inserted in the bore 14.

The neck 26 and stem 27 are provided with a bore 29 which extends longitudinally therethrough. The inner end of the bore 29 opens into an enlarged bore portion 30 which is formed in the grip section 18, and which enlargement 30 opens through the outer side of the section 18 and into the chamber 21, when the grip sections 18 and 19 are assembled. The plunger head 24 is provided with a socket 31 which aligns with the bore 29, when the head 24 yis assembled in the handle grip 17. .The outer end of a pin 32 seats in the socket 31 and is secured therein by a countersunk fastening 33, as best seen in Figure 3. The pin 32 extends loosely through the bore portion 30 and is slidably mounted in the bore 29 and has a tapered opposite inner end 34. A compression spring 3S is mounted loosely in the enlarged bore portion 30 around a portion of the pin 32 and bears against the inner side of the plunger head 24 for urging the plunger to an extended position outwardly of the retainer 19, as illustrated in dotted lines in Figure 2.

The stern 27 is provided with diametrioally aligned openings 36 to accommodate locking balls 37, as best seen in Figures 2 and 4. As seen in Figure 4, the openings 36 actually constitute end portions of a transverse bore which is of slightly larger diameter than the bore 29, and the balls 37 are each of a slightly larger diameterv than the pin 32. After the balls 37 are applied to the openings 36, the outer ends of said openings are peened or provided with center punch indentations 38 to con tine the balls therein and so that less than half of the balls will protrude outwardly from said openings 36 when the pin 32 is disposed therebetween, as seen in Figures 2 and 4. The spacing between the openings 36 and the shoulder 28 corresponds to the spacing between the openings 36 and the shoulder 28 corresponds to the spacing between the openings 15 and the outer end of the sleeve 9. Thus, when the stem 27 is fully inserted into the sleeve 9 it can be rotated therein while at the same time a gripping force is applied with the hand to the handgn'p 17 and plunger head 24. y When the openings 36 assume positions in alignment with the openings 15 the tapered pin end 34 will move between the locking balls 37 to thus allow the plunger head 24 to be forcibly retracted inwardly of the grip 17 from its dotted line to its full line position of Figure 2. Movement of the pin end 34 between the locking balls 37 will cam said balls 37 laterally outward into the `openings 1,5 for securely locking the stem 27 in the sleeve 9 to thus lock the handle 16 to the bowling ball 6. The pin `32 will be disposed between the locking balls 37 to hold said balls in extended locking positions while the handle 16 and plunger head 24 are held by a gripping force with the inner side of the plunger head 24 abutting the outer side of the handle section 18, as illustrated inv Figures 2 and 3, in which position the spring 35 will be held fully compressed.

With the handle 16 thus held with a gripping force, the ball 6 can be accurately propelled or thrown and with a twisting force applied thereto as the ball is released. The ball is released during the throwing or propelling swinging moyernent of the arm by simply relaxing the gripping force on the handle 16 so that the handle is held only `by the f orur ngers engaging around the inner side of the grip portion 18, with two fingers on either side Vof the neck 26.l When the gripping force is thus released so that the palm of the hand no longer presses against a rounded opter edge 39 of the plunger head 24, the spring 35 will immediately move the plunger head 24 and the pin 32 to the extended positions thereof as seen in dotted lines in Figure A2, so that the tapered pin end 34 will be spaced outwardly of the bore 2'9 relative to the openings 36, so that the locking balls 37 will be cammed inwardly to their dotted line positions of Figure 2, out of engagement with the openings 15, so that the stem 27 can slide out of the b ore 14 to thus release the handle 16 from the ball 6, so that the ball can continue down the alley while the handle 16 remains in the hand of the bowler. The peened portions 38 prevent outward escape of the locking balls 37 and said balls are too large to escape through the stem bore l29.

The handle sections 18 and 19 and the plunger head 24 are preferably formed of a lightweight metal such as aluminum. The pin 32, balls 37 and spring 35 are preferably formed of a good grade of hardened steel and the remainder of the parts, except the ball 6, are preferably formed of a mild steel.

The stern 27 is preferably one-half inch in diameter and balls 37 are each preferably one-quarter of an inch in diameter. The pin 32 is preferably three sixteenths of an inch in diameter and the locking balls 37, when in projected positions, as seen in Figures 2 and 4, preferably extend three-thirty-seconds of an inch into the openings 15.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated i and may be resorted to, without departing from the function or scope of the invention as hereinafter defined `by the appended claims.

I kclaim as my invention:

1. In combination with a bowling ball having a socket disposed in and opening outwardly thereof, a handle including a grip portion and a stem, said grip portion including an inner part and an outer part, said stem projecting from said inner part and having a close tting sliding engagement in the socket, said outer part being slidably mounted relative to the inner part for movement toward and away from the stem, a spring contained in the handle and urging said outer part to an extended position away from the stem, said socket including a wall having a transversely disposed inwardly opening recess, said stem having a longitudinal bore and a transverse bore, at least one locking element movably disposed in said transverse bore, a member secured to the outer part of the grip portion and slidably mounted in the inner part of said grip portion and said longitudinal bore and having a part engaging said locking element for retaining the locking element in engagement with the socket recess and transverse bore for locking the stern immovably in the socket when the outer grip portion is displaced inwardly, and said socket recess and locking element having mutually coacting cam portions for camming the locking element out of engagement with the recess when said member is displaced out of engagement with the locking element by movement of the outer part of the grip portion to an extended position and by a force thereafter being applied tending to separate the handle from the ball.

2. A combination as dened by claim l, wherein said socket is provided with a second inwardly opening recess, a second locking element movably disposed in said transverse bore for engaging in said second recess, said locking elements comprising balls, said stem having means restricting the ends of said transverse bore for confining the locking balls therein and whereby less than one half of each ball can project from said transverse bore into the socket recess thereof, said means confining the locking balls forming a part of said cam portions.

3. A combination as in claim 2, said member comprising a pin having a tapered end movable between the locking b alls for displacing the locking balls transversely outward of the stern intolocking positions in engagement with the socket recesses.

4. In combination with a rst member having a socket disposed in and opening outwardly thereof, a second member having a projecting stern sized to have a close fitting sliding engagement in said socket, said stem having a longitudinal bore and a transverse bore intersecting the longitudinal bore, at least one locking element movably disposed in said transverse bore, said socket including a wall having a transversely disposed inwardly opening recess, a member slidably mounted in said longitudinal bore for engaging and displacing said locking element transversely outward of the stem and into engagement with the socket recess, in a projected position of said member, Afor locking the stem immovably in the socket, spring means carried by said second member and engaging and urging said last mentioned member to a retracted position out of engagement with said locking element, and said locking element and socket recess having coacting cam portions for camming the locking element out of engagement with the recess, when said last mentioned member is moved to a retracted position and by a force thereafter being applied tending to separate said `lirst member from the second member.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 884,991 McGuane Apr. 4, 1908 1,219,398 Huntsman Mar. 13, 1917 2,101,815 Mallory Dec. 7, 1937 2,482,395 Zander Sept. 20, 1949 2,738,192 Wells Mar. 13, 1956 

